PROVIDENCE — The state Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on whether to reinstate a libel and slander suit brought by restaurant owner Robert Burke against The Providence Journal, its reporter Katherine Gregg and WPRO talk show host Dan Yorke and the Citadel Broadcasting Corp.

When Governor Chafee objected to 3-percent raises for faculty at the University of Rhode Island and other state colleges last month, his action raised questions about how much professors are paid for their work.

At least one in four— and in some cases, close to 50 percent— of high school students in seven Rhode Island school districts missed at least 18 days of school last year, according to research documented in the most recent Kids Count Factbook.

Dr. Elizabeth B. Lange, an East Providence pediatrician, has been named Rhode Island’s first “Childhood Immunization Champion,” under a new award program by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

PROVIDENCE — Legislation aimed at resolving the concerns that halted Rhode Island’s medical marijuana dispensary program cleared a key Senate committee Wednesday and could go to the full Senate next week.

CENTRAL FALLS — The winds of change swept through this struggling city on Wednesday night as the newly appointed members of the Central Falls Charter Commission were sworn in and introduced to the public below the daunting stone Cogs-well Tower in Jenks Park outside of City Hall.

PROVIDENCE — The debate over same-sex marriage drew more than 80 people to the Rhode Island State House on Wednesday, and with them, a clash of beliefs over the institution of marriage and whether it should be limited to one man and one woman.

PROVIDENCE — Pledging to challenge the city in court, the president of the Providence Retired Police and Fire Association says his members cannot live with Monday’s decision by the mayor and City Council to suspend cost-of-living increases for retirees and to enact other unilateral pension reductions.

NORTH KINGSTOWN — The Town Council on Tuesday night approved a $95.6-million budget for fiscal year 2013. Of that amount, total property-tax dollars will be $67,028,739, an increase of $1.5 million over 2012.

WASHINGTON — As President Obama marked the anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s killing with a new U.S.-Afghan strategic pact, Rep. David N. Cicilline muted his criticism of the administration’s war policy.

PROVIDENCE –– Public sector pensions were again the focus of a hearing at the State House on Wednesday, as more bills have been introduced in response to passage of a historic overhaul of the state pension system last year.

PROVIDENCE — The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a bill to exclude involuntary manslaughter from the list of crimes that require a mandatory double life sentence if a gun was used in the killing.

PROVIDENCE — Legislators from the East Bay Tuesday urged the House Finance Committee to ban tolls on the Mount Hope Bridge and eliminate the agency that operates the bridge and is considering imposing tolls there.

All best to the Central Falls Charter Commission. Here’s hoping Councilman James Diossa is right on when he tells the Projo, “The charter commission is going to bring the community out and get them engaged and involved.”